They were cute little lion cubs, and he let 'em out of cage. They
were running the locker room.

They're not harmful at that age. They
were tiny....But he was known for loading the ball up. Spitballs, they were called. Vaseline, anyplace you could hide the
substance on your uniform. If you know what you're doing, it doesn't
take much. You put it on the right spot on the baseball, if you can
throw the baseball hard enough, what will happen is the bottom will drop
out of it. At home plate the illusion is it's dropping straight down. It's obvious when somebody can throw a spitball and has done one well
because you can't make a ball do that other than with a foreign
substance.

Joe Niekro was a guy who did this. He had a knuckleball, but he also
had foreign substance on the ball. I'll never forget, he got caught. He got caught and the home plate umpire charges out to the mound and
Niekro says, "I didn't do anything!" and he starts emptying his pocket
and all this stuff comes out. (laughing) A fingernail file, he was
scuffing up the baseball. All kinds of stuff that he was putting on 'em
just came out of his pocket and he tried to act like no, I wasn't, it
was just there. It was it is funniest thing....

The food is paramount at Nats Park, from the Taste of the Majors
concession stand that offers food inspired by the opposing team (think
fish tacos for the San Diego Padres) to the Red Porch Restaurant, where
any ticket holder can dine on oven-made flatbread pizza and house-smoked
meats from a table overlooking center field....

Located directly behind
home plate, President’s Club seats are actually closer to the batter
than the pitcher is. Tickets come with a view of the batting cage and
in-seat beer, wine and food service. And there’s serious foodie action
happening inside the dining room, too. The executive chef’s buffet
rivals D.C.’s best; the four themed tables include a farm-to-fork spread
with dishes spotlighting local cheese, meat and produce.

“Both the stadium and Levy are LEED Certified, so sustainability is
key for us,” Silver says. The other three tables focus on a revolving
theme, from Asian night to a blue crab concept. “The chef switches up
the menu for season ticket holders who might eat at the Diamond Club
several nights in a row during a series. The servers get to know season
pass holders and will prepare custom food for their dietary issues or
children. Whatever they want, we will find a way to prepare it.”

A more casual but still exclusive option, the PNC Diamond Club is
only for Diamond seat (sections 119 to 126) season ticket holders. It
includes all-inclusive food and beverage and a patio with
behind-the-plate views. For individual ticket holders in the Diamond
sections, the Diamond Lounge is a step back from the Club, with the same
all-inclusive dining plan but a separate tented lounge and patio
overlooking the Navy Yard. Both levels come with in-seat service.

“We served them all three meals here that day, and no one could
believe they could get this gourmet food at the ballpark,” Silver adds.
“We even did different tables with regional cuisines, a table with
Southern food, food from California… The senators were all joking and
debating that their home state’s food was the best.”"

Yankees last in 2015 road attendance through May 15. SF Giants are first, Cubs second, Colorado Rockies third-NY Times

"Michael Pineda seemed on the verge of wiggling out of a
jam Friday night, when the Royals’ Omar Infante belted a 1-2 pitch into
the left-center gap in the sixth inning. His race to third base was
accompanied by an unusual road soundtrack for the Yankees this season — an energetic roar from a near-capacity crowd.

The
Yankees may be baseball’s marquee franchise, with their record 27 World
Series championships, a rich history and a fan base that has tentacles
reaching every pocket of the country.

There
seem to be several contributing factors for the drop. With the
retirements of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera in the last two seasons,
the Yankees lost two widely popular and respected figures who were the
last links to their dynastic years. Jeter’s jersey was highest-selling
jersey in baseball over the second half of last season.

“People would come just to see them,” Yankees pitcher C. C. Sabathia said.

They
have also missed the playoffs the last two seasons, and despite their
despite their strong start, they were widely viewed as a team in
transition, one with too many veterans past their prime serving as
placeholders until prospects were ready.

Alex
Rodriguez’s return from a yearlong suspension might have provided the
Yankees with a villainous character on the road. But unlike Barry Bonds
in the early 2000s, Rodriguez is no longer such a dominant player that
he is an attraction unto himself.

Still, the decline is jarring.

“It
would surprise anyone,” Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain said. “They
still have a really good team, regardless of Jeter being gone. They’ve
got some guys that can definitely play baseball, and that’s all you can
ask as a fan.”

Through
Friday, the Rockies had the fewest wins in baseball, but of their 19
games away from home, they had played five games against the Los Angeles
Dodgers, who led baseball in home attendance, and three against the
Giants, who were third.

The
atmosphere for the most recent series at Tampa Bay was particularly
abysmal. The Yankees, because there are so many transplanted New Yorkers
in the area, which is also their spring training site, have enjoyed
solid support there. But the four-game series drew 44,937 fans in all —
fewer than the Yankees played before at home on opening day.

Pitcher
Adam Warren said he prefers to pitch at night, when the crowds are
typically bigger and more boisterous. But most Yankees said it did not
matter. And with so many recent newcomers from places like Arizona (Didi
Gregorius), Miami (Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Jones) and San Diego
(Chase Headley), some players are not accustomed to regularly playing
before large audiences.

“We try to concentrate on the things we can control,” outfielder Carlos Beltran said. “All those things we don’t think about.”

At
the moment, that would include getting their offense going and winning
games. The Yankees lost their fourth game in a row Friday night, a
season high, before winning Saturday, 5-1.

"The one-one, swung on and hit in the air to deep left center field, away back goes Jones, in deep left center, that ball is....gone! Alex Rodriguez hit one into the loading dock, just to the left of Monument Park, a long home run. In fact, it's an A-bomb from A-rod! Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez homers and the Yankees take a 3-2 lead."

John Sterling's call of Alex Rodriguez' 660th regular season home run, May 1, 2015 in Fenway Park. Newsday back page, Say Hey-Rod

"And the 3-0, swung on, driven to deep left, it is high, it is far, it is gone! Alex Rodriguez pinch hits a home run, his 660th home run, to tie Willie Mays for 4th place on the all time home run list. What an ultra dramatic moment! An A-bomb from A-rod! And the Yankees take a 3-2 lead."

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Baseball blog & comments on XM MLB 89 and others that "define the daily discourse" for money in order to please Bud Selig or vanity publisher bosses. I agree with Doug Pappas' statement: "Any writer meeting the Commissioner’s standards of ‘good journalism' should be fired.” I'm also a 'Saves Scholar.' Not affiliated with XM.